Carton-wrapping machine



May 1, 1923.

J. J. MILLIN CARTON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June -24 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 1, 1923. 1,453,719

J. J. MILLIN CARTON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1920 K sheets-sheet 2 /2 fr] J5 2' L22, 5mm/wma Z7 i 310mg. 0mm

May 1, 1923. 1,453,719 l l J. J., MIIL|N I l CARTON WRAPPIG MACHINE Filed June 24 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Mm-g. 01m

May l, 1923. 1,453,719

J. J. MILLIN CARTON WRA'PPING MACHINEv I Filed June 24 1920 Sheets-Sheet 4 l Sube/who@ 53513. mmmlml' 'My 1, T9231 1,453,719

J. J. MILLIN CARTON WRAPPING MACHU-{Iz}v l med June 24. 1920 e sheets-shed' 5 f May 1,1923. 1,453,719

' J. J. MILLIN CARTON WRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 24 ,"1920 s sheets-sheet 6V Patented May l, 1923.

` JOI-INU'. MILLIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

cAnToN-wRArPING MACHINE'.

Applicationled June 24', 1920. Serial No. 391,501.

To all/whom 'it may concern Be it known that l, JOHN J. Minnrn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county of Kings and Stateof New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inCarton- 'ralviping Machines, Iof which the` following is a specification. l I This invention relatesv to packing and wrappingmachines and particularly to the part of mechanism manipulating the folded wrapper orcart'on to'opening or squaring po sition prior to its being filled and closed.

The primary objects of my invention are the improved process of preparing orj squaring the folded carton for the filling andclosing operation, and 4means*whereby my improved method is greatly facilitated. Y

The wrappers or cartons prio-r to undergoing the process of opening or squaring-to filling position are usually shipped flat and folded at two corners. In order to open a carton to a square receiving shape the remaining two corners haveto vbel bent. The necessary bending of the cartonat these other or future corners is usually facilitated merely by lines impressed into the wrapper material. vtis evident that such impressions do not suffice for the forming or opening of the carton to rectangular receiving shape, unless subjected to an operation, or operations positively defining and properly bending the future corners of the carton.

The methods and machines used heretofore tend to open the carton in a semi-positive manner by holdingl down one side 'and temporarily lifting up the folded-down free sides of the carton.

By merely lifting vup the free sides-to a temporary squareA posit-ion7 lal permanent square shape is not imparted to the carton. `When such carton is filled and finally' closed it will always have the `tendency to tilt toward its originally` `folded position, due to the resiliency 'ofthe carton material, and it will assume a parallelogrammaticv shape, which not only .makes/packing, shipping or storing highly inconvenient, but sometimes even impossible. y.

Heretofore the lifting was either doneby pushing upfrom without one free carton side which'is not parallel tothat held down, in a. semi-positive way. no matter whether ornotthe remaining ycorners were bent at their` Supposed bending line, or the folded ycarton was opened with a lifter inserted between the held down -side and the upper y side which is parallel thereto. u;

By swinging up or otherwise raising the lifter the carton isv unfolded,l and forced to assume a temporary square shape'. When using any one of these methods positive con ners are not produced, which Aresultsas has been said previously in vforming instead rec-` tangularA shapes, forms resembling more or less rhomboidal r parallelogrammatic shapes, depending upon. the shape for which the carton is intended.

It often happens that the mechanism forcl ing the carton toa temporary square shape fails to function properly.4 In such casesfirl'- regular forms are created which prevent the proper filling of the carton, and greatly imf pairs theA closing of' the carton` after fillingit. y Y ,i

it is not unusual that besides the highv percentage of spoilage dueto yimproperly opened but notsquared cartons, the break-' age of the article to4 be packed is consider# able, especially when frailmerchandse like glass ornaments are handled. Also the loss ottime caused by stoppingthe machine bef cause of such breakage is considerable.

,It 1s quite evident therefore that the .proper packing operations. largely depend upon correctly opening, permanentlylsquaring and otherwise preparing the carton'v for the filling and closing. operations, and that more efficient and less costly work `may be done when the carton is properly made ready for receiving and retaining the merchan#v dise. Y

In view of the foregoingthe principle of my improved method will'be more readl ily appreciated. `It consists of not `merely raising thefree sides of a folded carton and temporarily'holding it in square position,'but

of causing its corners to be ofperfect and' i permanently:rectangular shape. This can be accomplished only through actually bending or breaking `the unbent corners ofthe delivered folded carton by completely re-' versing its original shape. Y The process will be betterunderstood.by following` each operation step by step. `l

A newly made, folded carton/is placed with one of its sides on a plane surface and this side is held inits position. bender blade isinserted in the ycarton and heldin place at the obtuse `corner formed' by the bent down carton side and by the adjacent held down side. rllhen the adjacent originally bent-down side is turned up and swung about the blade until completing substantially a half circle. Through this opera tion a perfect and acute corner is formed in place of the formerly indistinct obtuse corner. 1n consequence of the folding over of the one side, the parallel other side and the top side are placed in reverse posit-ion. 1n this way the four corners of the carton are so to speak, broken. Now the carton is released, and it will be found that it will assume, due to its own resiliency, a perfect or nearly perfect rectangular shape. which is far superior to any shape ol'itainable by apiilying the first mentioned two methods.

1While my improved process of opening a carton to proper filling position may be accomplished by hand and by using primitive tools, it becomes necessary for quantity production to devise mechanical means properly designed and timed to substitute manual labor. Consequently, I consider it opportune and appropriate to insegaratingly embody in my invention not only my improved process, but also a machine adapted to accomplish the results sought by the process. Therefore, further objects of my invention are to provide devices and mechanisms adapted to produce the desired results of opening cartons preparatory to Filling and closing it.

The foregoing and still further objects of my invention will be more fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention and forming part of this specification.

In these drawings,

Figure l represents diagrammatically the various stages of a carton during my process of opening it to receiving position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation embodying a preferred construction of my device designed for accomplishing the results sought by my process.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same.

Figure t is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6 6 of Figure 3. n

Figure 7 is a detail plan view of the bender blade mechanism.

Figure 8 is a sectional view therethrough taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Figure 7.

Referring to Figure l, in which a carton is shown in successive positions during the various stages of my process. the first position indicates a carton in its originally folded shape which has just left thecartmI hopper. In this figure, 1 is the bottom o'l base carton side which is firmly held down (by means explained later), 11 is the folded over carton side, forming with the helddown side an acute corner 1', 111 is the bentdown carton side parallel to side 11; and forming with the base-side an obtuse corner I, 1V is the top side parallel to base side I and forming with side 11 an obtuse corner 1 and with side 111 an acute corner 1.

The second position in Figure l shows a bender blade 1 inserted into the carton at the obtuse corner 1 while the base side ot the carton is firmly held down. A re-fold ing lever 2 is shown below the bent-down carton side 111 ready to engage this carton side.

In the third position lever 2 is illustrated at its upward movement causing side 111 to assume a vertical position, whereby the entire carton is squared. Lever 2 continues in its movement until side 111 is partially bent around the bender blade. Then folding or hold-down lever 3 commences to press down the carton until it is completely refolded to the position shown in the fourth stage.

The formerly obtuse angles I and 1l now become acute, while formerly acute. angles 1 and 1 are now obtuse. 1n this way the carton corners are completely changed and broken, and the shape of the carton is totally reversed.

When the re-fo-lding ofthe carton is thus completed the knife or bender blade l is withdrawn from the carton, the base side of the carton is released and the carton is pushed forward, in a manner explained later on, while being kept in its refolded position by lever 3.

The carton travels forward and below defiecting curved guide 4t until it leaves lever 3. 1f the refolded carton would be totall)V released, it would assume a parallelogrammatic shape of its own accord. l'

1n order to square the carton however, a spring operated straightening` member t' engages the now acute upper corner 1 and causes the carton to` assume a rectangular shape as shown in the last stage of Figure l.

In this position the carton is ready to be filled and subsequently closed.

The foregoing description of the process mentions the use of mechanical means. The underlying principle of refolding and releasing a carton may be accomplished, however. by purely hand operations.

When, as has been said before, rapid operations are required, the manual labor would become impractical and a suitable machine is necessary to take its place.

'Figures 2 to 6 illustrate preferred em bodiments of my machine. A stand 6, upon which an operating table 7 is formed, supdriving` shaft is a cartonhopper orguidey Cam 14 transmits its motion by means of connecting rod-1T and lever'lS to .the longitudinally operating table mechanism, while cam 15 actuates by way ofconnecting rod 17 and lever 19,'(Figure 5) a pair of gear segments 2O and levers 21, 22 and 23, the transversally operatingtablev mechanism.

Sprocket wheel 16 drives sprocketwheel 24 ofan article conveyer indicated' at 25.

Y (Figure y2.)

Fastened to the table at the end above the 26 in which is placed a stockA of flat folded cartons as indicated in dashed and dotted line at 27. (Figure 3.) It will be noted that the lower closingl fiap 28 isat the left to the' direction of trayel from the hopper and forms an extensionrof the base-side of the carton.

to yengage one folded carton at atime and to push it in frontof the hopper. The car-' iiage reciprocates,4 and at each forward stroke the carton is ejected from the hopper. In order `to stop the pushed-out carton from traveling back with the reciprocatingy carriage, gravity operated pawls 31 -descend behind the carton at the moment the latter leaves the hopper.

A lever arrangement 32 normallyheld in upward position by spring 32 and actuated by cam 32"attached to-camdisc 15, operates by means of shaft 33 the hold-down or refolding finishing lever 3. Between the carriage guide bars 29 is pivotally attached the carton refolding lever 2, provided with anti-friction rollers 2', adapted to be zoperated by guide blocks 34 provided at' the side of the lower carriage portion 34.

IVhen the carriage moves backwards the lever 2 is tipped over yand is forced 'to press the bent-down side III of the carton partially up and around Abender blade 1.l IVhen" descends, finishes the refoldiiig. operation ofv` lever 2, and keepsthe carton inY this new position until it has reached bent guide arm 4.

. In orderto prevent lever 3 from pressingv down upon the carton too firmly, which may interfere with its'traveling forward,xa stop 33 isl provided at the upright partjof'lever.

arrangement 32, which f passes through `table 7 byv means of stop screw 33l mountediii the table land adapted tofengage stop 33,. The lupward motion of lev'er`32 may befliinitedpwhereby the refolding operation ofy lever 3 is controlled. v j At the end of feeder4 plate 30 lare attached spring operated pusher pawls 35, normally held in upward position, and adapted to push the yr'efolded carton forwarduntil ity reaches bent guide arin 4L and assumes its squared position. Vhen'the carriage moves towai'd hopper 26 the lpawls tip down and slide below the newly brought out carton (by feeder plate v30) into operative position shown in FigurevG. l

In a similar way to that of guide blocks 34, operates.v movable guide bar 36 which slidably restson table 7 and which actuates,

in manner explainedl later, a. series of inter` connected carton pushers 37 by way ofv very tically movable pin 3S. These pushers cause the forward motionof the filled cartons and I are forced upwards by individual springs 39. or by any other suitable means when the carriage moves in forward direction. When moving in opposite directionupin 38 slides up the inclined edge 36 of bar 36 and exerts pressureaga'inst the short end of the first pusher, thus causing-it vtoitip down with its pusher end. The other pushers being inter- Y y.

connectedI follow this motion..

Above `the carriage an adjustable longi' tudinal carton guide frame 4()l is provided and attached thereto-tis the curved. carton guide 4` and aV spring ,operated carton straightenert'), facilitating the openingof`- Operated transversely to the direction of.y the travel of the `cartons and adaptedto slide in the Carton is bender blade 1, shown in detail in Figures 7, 8 and-9. Ashas been said above, the bladek is actuated by; rlever 23 which causes it to move at a predetermined moment intofoperative position. Y

f The bayonet-like blade isiadjustably tached to slide 4lV i frame 42.l

Connected also withslide '41' at` `is an; arm 44bent down. at its ends at 45 and 45'..

l Parallel with the blade` and guided in clamps 46 is the sliding guide jbar 36, operating` pusher pin 38.' A spring 47 .attached at 48 to one ofthe guide-clamps 46 andk atA 49v to the guide bar 36tendsto pull the latter toward the carriage.' Y

At the moment, however. when' the bender vblade is withdrawn andthe. cartons are` to move forward, being pushedby pushers37,

the pin 38 must be released. This is accom-` guided in a doublev plished by the bent-down end 45 of arm 44 which moves with the blade in direction' Praide bar is arrested by pin 52, providedv in table 7, (Figure 7), and stop 53 of the bar 3G, While the blade continues in its travel.

Secured at 54 to one of the blade guide frames Ll2 and passing below bender blade l is a knife-like attachment 55 having an upturned end 55 facing the carton hopper to which a carton closingnap-guide 56 is attached. See Figures G. 7 and 8.

When the carton is fed forward from the hopper, the carton flap-,cuide 56 tends to lqeep the closing flap of the carton below the level of the carton base-side which is to be lirmly held in place duringr the refolding` operation.

It also helps the flap being brought beloiv attachment55. This is facilitated by the turned rup end portion of the latter.

Beneath attachment 55 is a flap clamping device consisting;` of' lever 57 pivoted at 5S and equipped at one end with anti-friction roller 59 and at the other end with a platform G0, adapted to be pressed against attachment 55 by spring 6l holding the lever 57 down near its roller end. The spring is conveniently fastened to the table.

The releasing of the carton Hap takes place after the bender blade 2 has been Withdraivn from the carton.` This is accomplished by the bent-down end 45 of arm llt attached to blade slide 41. Arm end 45 has a Wedge-like extension 62 adapted to pass under roller 59.

Villiefi blade has left tie carton. blade slide il moves further until Wedge 62 of arm end 45 engages roller 59, thereby overcomino; the tension of spring 6l' and lifting the roller end of lever 57. rlhus platform 60 is moved down and the carton flap is released'. New the carton is ready to travel again being pushed forward by paivls 85.

Then the bender blade moves toward the next carton, the carton clamping, device is first actuated. since Wedge 62 releases roller 59 causing spring 61 to close the jaw or platform 60.

In this manner the carton is first held firmly in position before the re-folding operation takes place.

A very important feature of my device is a mechanism for adjusting the outlet of the cartons pushed forward by the feeder. Cartons of various thickness may thus be stored in hopper 26 and their issue therefrom regulated. This is particularly desirable when cartons have sivelled by dampness. Y

'lhe mechanism consists of a slide gate 63 provided at the delivery side of the hopper and operated by adjusting stud 64. ure 6.)

Operating simultaneously With, but in opy posite direction to the bender blade, is a piston-likearticle feeder 65 which pushes the article to be Wrapped fr,om.conveyer 25 into the opened carton.

The closing,- of the filled carton will be a subject of another application for Letters latent.

The foregoing is a clear description of mv is `greatly fa-V in combination, a frame and an operating,`

table. said frame supporting the driving;-

mechanism, said table supporting a CartonV magazine and carton manipulating devices operated by said mechanism, said device comprising' co-acting central and sidevvise` actuated groups. said central groups con- Sistiner in part of a carton feeder, carton refoldine' members, carton squaringT members, a stationary adjustable guide for guiding' squared and filled cartons. and a plurality of carton pushers for keeping; cartons movingr forward at predetermined intervals, said driving;r mechanism comprising; a pair of cams, actuated by of a gear transmis-h sion, driven by a clutch-controlled.loose, drivingpulley, a pair of connecting rods, central lever for operatingsaid co-v acting' central group connected with one of said rods, said sidewise actuated group 'comprising in part a bender blade adapted to reciprocate at .Qjiven intervals in transversal. direction to the direction of movements of said central group, a device for clamping` one closing iiap of a carton thus keeping the latter temporary in a dormant state during the refoldinnj` operation. a pusher controlling member. actuated in pi rt simultaneously With said bender blade,.a combination of levers operated by the other connecting' rod and operating the aforesaid sideii'ise actuated group.

2. In a machine for the purpose described,

obstructed engagementof the obtuse corner of the carton by said blade, said obtuse corner being formed by said base-side and the adjacent free folded-down. side of the carton, a refolding hook co-acting withthe feeder and adapted to engage said free side and to bend it partially around said blade, a cam and spring operated pressingI lever for completing the refolding of the carton to a position symmetrical and'opposite to the original folded position thereof, and for keeping the carton in itsv newly refolded position while traveling forward, collapsible feeding pawls for pushing the lcarton forward in its refolded state, a curved receiver arm for engaging the carton when ready to be straightened to .its filling position, a spring operated straightening member adapted to engage the newly formed acute upper corner of the-carton and facilitating the latter to assume its open filling position, means for adjusting the down swing of said pressing lever, and means attached' at the lower portion of the hopper for regulating the cartonoutlet. Y 'i 3. In a packing machine, the combination of mechanisms .for feeding, refolding or re versing, opening and squaring an originally folded carton, andfo'r carrying and closingv affilled carton, which comprises a vfeederv l facilitating the ejection of a `single carton from a hopper, carton back stops, a bendin member operating transversally to the trave of the carton and adapted to pass there-rv I through while in its originally folded position, refolding' devices partially actuated simultaneously with the feeder for bending a carton about said bending membersy into,

reverse'positiomand for keeping the refold 1 ,i ed carton in its newA reversed position while traveling forward, a carton receiver arm, a spring actuated carton-straightening member, and a plurality of carrying members for engaging the filled carton,- substantially as described.

4. In combination with a packingmachine,y a carton refolding device comprising abend'- ing member, a refolding member adapted to partially refold ya carton side around said bending member, another refolding member adapted to finish the refolding operation 'of means for defining the degree of the'fi'nal operation of said other refolding member.

Signed at New York, in thefcounty of New York, rand State of New vYork, this 18 day of June A. D. 1920.v

' OHN J lWILLIN.

'c5 the first refolding member, and regulatingv i 

